posting this in the general brand discussion area as I hope it might be interesting to some of the "non-vintage" guys too - and it shows some watches from a period when "our" brand was a true innovator, defining markets.
Some of you might remember my PSOTC post about the Breitling Premier 734 & 765, Aviator Chronographs produced by the "Breitling Eight Air Force" division Willy Breitling established in the mid 1930s.
One of the watches presented there had been stolen from my car two years ago - and I thought it would be irreplaceable for ever, these watches are quite rare indeed.
About two months ago Renè, known to you as forum member Dracha, contacted me to evaluate a watch that had been listed for auction by a local auction house in the Netherlands - inaccessible to me.
Listing pictures weren't too good, but it clearly was a "Breitling Eight" Premier ref. 734 I would have given a kidney for.
So we discussed "reasonable" and "enthusiast" pricing ranges and agreed he would bid on the watch, purchasing it for himself in the "reasonable" range and for me should it rise into crazy enthusiast/addict territory.
But it was a small local auction, no enthusiasts or addicts around in Amsterdam, so it sold well below what we had defined as reasonable .....
And here I have to do a short sidestep to a subject that truly, deeply impresses me - this crazy hobby of ours isn't only about watches, it is proof that there are very, very decent people out there; most of them I've never met personally, but we've become true friends, advising, helping and supporting each other, in deep trust.
Renè is one of the closest of those collector friends - similar interests, similar ways of thinking and acting, his depth of knowledge is encylopedic; but more than that, he's one of the greatest guys I've met, virtually or in "real" life.
Knowing how I missed that stolen watch, he offered it to me - not at the enthusiast/addict price I would have gladly paid, not even in that "reasonable" range we had established, but at a fraction of even that, at the price he had paid at that local auction.
The watch needed a bit of work, so off it went to the Wizard of OR, last week it came back, in spectacular condition again - the glossy black dial has turned a warm chocolate brown. Premier ref. 734, manufactured in 1945 - the perfect grail on my wrist.
Renè - thank you.
So we are through with the blah, finally some pics - catalog pages of the "Breitling Eight Air Force" division, published 1946.
